Our role in SIMS

Together with the outreach team of the SIMS
project we’ve put together a short summary of
our role in the project, including a few explanatory video interviews.

The videos can be viewed at the project’s work package
homepage.
Below I’ve included most of the text with some comments.

Summarised in a sentence our work in SIMS is this:

We’re looking at ways in which technology can be developed not only
with technical requirements in mind but also on those who will use
the technology – today and tomorrow.

This is due to the situation that the mining industry finds itself in:

The mining industry has a hard time recruiting people and many
miners are approaching retirement age. At the same time, the mining
industry is becoming so technologically advanced that new skills are
required by those who work in the industry. Technology can be part
of the solution to this problem. But if we are not careful, if it is
not developed with the human in the center, it can also make the
problem worse.

What is meant by this is that, while there a certainly reasons to
develop attractive workplaces just to provide attractive workplaces,
the mining industry now faces challenges that require them to do
this. The industry sees technology as the solution to the problem –
but it is only part of the solution. There are too many examples of
technology falling short of their intended effect. Often this is
because the user was forgotten or thought off too late. So:

Our conviction is that if the technology is developed on human
terms, if the needs and abilities of current and future users are
integrated into designs, technology can help solve many of the
problems of the mining industry. We are trying to find ways to do
this. This includes figuring out what is good with the current
technology and what needs to be changed in the future. It is
important that all who are affected by technology have a chance to
make their voice heard.

This is what we are trying to accomplish through the different tasks
of the work package. At the start of the project, for instance, we
worked with establishing what current technology does well and what
requires rethinking. We now work more with finding ways in which
required change can be enacted. In the end we hope that

… technology that is developed in SIMS harmonizes with the future
mineworkers, that it contributes to creating a rich and good working
life in which it is possible to maintain a healthy balance between
work and private life.